Grady made a grunting sound and said, “That sucks. How’d he go?”
Cassidy glanced up, surprised. It wasn’t offensive, the question; he wasn’t asking with the intent to hurt. He asked in the tone of someone familiar with losing people to death; an understanding, a matter-of-fact, welcome-to-this-shitty-club tone. All three men were looking at her somberly. Even her new neighbor managed to dial back his level of asshole.
“Aneurysm.”
Jason’s brows pinched. “Fuck.” Then he rushed out, “Sorry.”
A small laugh escaped her. “No, that’s accurate.”
He smiled at her approval, giving her a sheepish look.
“Kids?” Grady asked.
Mac cast him an annoyed glance as though the word had the power to conjure them.
Cassidy ducked her head. She hated this question. Why did everyone ask it?
“Got any more of that?” Jason asked, tapping her glass.
“I do,” she confirmed, glancing up.
He tipped his head toward her house. “Can we be presumptuous enough…? Or beer? We aren’t picky.”
He was giving her a momentary escape, and she took it. “Of course. I don’t have beer, though.” She was careful not to gauge her neighbor’s reaction as she said the last, getting to her feet. Her movement startled Fred. He whipped around toward her, still being held by Mac. She glared at him mockingly as she walked by.
Mac released him, and Fred ran to catch up to her. Looking down, she chided as she would any wayward friend, “Traitor.” He pranced beside her as though it had been a compliment.
At the house, she glanced back over her shoulder, pausing. Grady had taken a seat on the couch, looking at the book she’d been reading, while Jason and Mac stood chest to chest in some sort of discussion. She’d seen posturing enough she knew what it looked like; she hoped Jason was telling her neighbor to stop being an asshole.
Jason glanced over and noticed her watching them. He relaxed, calling out, “Mind if I help?”
Mac’s attention shifted to her, too. She could feel the heat from his gaze even from that distance, and she didn’t understand why his look burned her. She answered Jason with a nod. Dark eyes narrowed in challenge.
She was pulling the pitcher out of the refrigerator when Jason entered the house, hands in the pockets of his camouflage cut-offs. He looked around. “Great place. Nice view.”
Cassidy couldn’t help herself, “Compared to where you’re currently staying, I imagine running water and electricity is an improvement.”
Jason grinned as he came forward. “It’s not that bad.”
“It’s not that good.”
His expression indicated reluctant agreement.
She smiled. “Thank you for a graceful escape.”
“After a graceless assault,” he replied wryly. “We didn’t think it through, that’s not like us.” He paused, considering, and then added, “Maybe it’s like us.”
Cassidy chuckled.
“Shouldn’tbe like us; we know better.”
She gave him a curious look.
“We know better how to plan an… infiltration.” He wagged his brows.
Cassidy raised an eyebrow, smiling back. He was charming without being intimidating, unlike his buddy in the yard. “Is that what this is supposed to be?” She pointed to her dog. “And why he’s brainwashed my dog?”
Jason held up his hands in a gesture of innocence. “Grady and I had nothing to do with that one. Mac was a K-9 handler in the military. He’s more of an animal person than a people person.”